Electric basketball was the story of Saturday's Final Four matchup between the Florida Gators and Auburn Tigers. Of course, referees like Tony Padilla couldn't let it be all about the action on the court.
Padilla was involved in some of the most egregious calls made in the NCAA Tournament this year. Fortunately, he didn't manage to reach the lows of the end of the BYU-Alabama game, but that was a historically bad performance. We can't all be Walter Clayton Jr. going for 30+ in back-to-back tournament games.
That doesn't mean Padilla wasn't his typical self. There were bad calls, terrible no calls, unnecessary reviews and more throughout. The crew even managed to do the trifecta on this sequence:
"If all they see here is a common foul, they can't put that common foul on that player." - @GeneSteratore
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 6, 2025
Following review, no flagrant is called and Florida is charged a timeout after the challenge. pic.twitter.com/HGeJCTebDg
Best memes and tweets roasting Tony Padilla during Final Four
Social media was full of complaints about Padilla from those who saw this coming and those first coming to the realization that the NCAA had put him on one of the biggest games of the tournament.
Some people are rooting for teams, I am rooting for Tony Padilla to shine here with three minutes left.
— Jason Scheer (@jasonscheer) April 6, 2025
Official review to decide who to rig it for.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) April 6, 2025
Effing reffing disaster.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) April 6, 2025
Tony Padilla has been genuinely terrible as an official all Tournament, and he's been down to that standard today. My goodness. How in the world is this dude working a Final Four?
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) April 6, 2025
The officials haven't gotten enough attention tonight so we need a pointless review
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) April 6, 2025
You stop a breakaway layup to call a shot-clock violation when the ball had already been taken away from the offense?
— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) April 5, 2025
Who else but Tony Padilla!
Tony Padilla will not be denied making his presence felt
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) April 6, 2025
I wouldn’t let Tony Padilla ref a children’s basketball game and somehow the @NCAA throws him out there to butcher a final 4 game. Add it to the list!
— Spence Needle (@spencerhawes00) April 6, 2025
Tony Padilla: pic.twitter.com/eDLerw8J08
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) April 6, 2025
Is it asking too much to expect the NCAA to put their best refs on the biggest games while sidelining the guys who screwed up the worst? Apparently it is. At the very least, Padilla didn't find a way to truly ruin the outcome. Auburn fans will feel that a call here or there could have changed their fortune, but there wasn't one game-changing moment from the officials. Mostly, they were annoying.
Florida came away with the win, erasing an eight-point halftime deficit. Walter Clayton Jr. led the way with clutch playmaking in the end. Meanwhile, the Gators committed one too many turnovers to give themselves a real chance in the end.
The Gators will move on to the national championship game to play the winner of Saturday night's Final Four matchup between Houston and Duke. We can call hope Padilla won't be involved in that one.